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Illinois  State 

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URBANA,  ILLINOIS. 


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NATURAL  HISTORY  SURVPV 

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Field  Columbian  Museum 

Publication  46, 

Zoological  Series.  Vol.  Ill,  No.   i 


DESCRIPTION  OF 

AN  APPARENTLY  NEW  SPECIES 

OF  MOUNTAIN  GOAT. 


BY 


D.  G.  Elliot,   F.R.  S.  E. 

Curator  of  Department. 


Chicago,  U.  S.  A. 

June,    1900. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    AN    APPARENTLY    NEW    SPECIES 
OF    MOUNTAIN    GOAT. 


BY   D.   G.    ELLIOT,   F.R.S.E. 


Last  autumn  Mr.  Vernon  Shaw  Kennedy  of  Chicago  made  a 
hunting  trip  to  Alaska,  and  while  there  obtained  a  skull  and  scalp  of 
a  mountain,  goat  that  had  been  shot  by  an  Indian.  The  peculiar 
horns  and  their  very  unusual  shape,  entirel)^  different  from  those  of 
the  species  found  on  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  Coast  Range,  together 
with  certain  differences  observed  in  the  characters  of  the  skull, 
induces  me  to  give  this  form  a  distinctive  appellation,  and  I  have 
pleasure  in  bestowing  upon  it  Mr.  Kennedy's  name. 


OREAMNUS   KENNEDYI. 

Type  locality.  Mountains  at  mouth  of  Copper  River,  opposite 
Kyak  Island,  Alaska. 

General  character.  Frontals  much  depressed  in  front  of  horn 
cores;  nasals  narrow,  flat;  interparietal  with  nearly  straight  anterior 
outline;  basioccipital  square;  basisphenoid  and  presphenoid  narrow, 
contracted,  and  a  wide  palate.  Horns  spreading  outwards  from  base, 
and  turning  backwards  at  tips,  ribbed  for  half  the  length,  then 
smooth  for  remaining  portion. 

Color.  White.  Horns  brownish  black  on  the  ribbed  portion, 
jet  black  on  remainder. 

Skull.  Superior  outline  highest  between  horn  cores,  descending 
rapidly  with  a  concave  curve  anteriorly,  caused  by  the  deep  depres- 
sion of  the  frontals  in  front  of  horn  cores,  and  posteriorly  with  a  con- 
vex curve  to  occiput;  nasals  flat  on  top,  rounded  slightly  at  posterior 
end,  and  terminating  in  a  point  anteriorly.  The  horn  cores  are  con- 
cave (scooped  out)  on  the  inside,  not  rounded,  and  the  points  incline 
outward,  causing  a  slight  curve  on  the  exterior  lateral  outline,  and 
permitting  the  wide  expanse  that  exists  at  the  tips  of  the  horns.  The 
malar  is  long   and  narrow  and   terminates  anteriorly  in  a  somewhat 


4  Field  Columbian  Museum — Zoology,  Vol.    III. 

lengthened  pointed  spur;  while  the  lacrymal  is  wide  for  its  length. 
The  parietals  are  considerably  depressed  at  the  posterior  base  of  the 
horn  cores,  forming  two  pits,  and  the  interparietal  is  nearly  straight 
anteriorly  and  entirely  without  the  central  point  so  conspicuous  in  the 
skulls  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  goats.  A  considerable  portion  of  the 
occipital  region  has  been  cut  away,  evidently  to  facilitate  the  removal 
of  the  brain.  On  the  inferior  surface,  the  basioccipital  is  almost 
square,  slightly  contracted  midway.  The  "lips"  of  the  foramen 
magnum  between  the  occipital  condyles  have  also  been  cut  away.  The 
basisphenoid  is  greatly  contracted  and  very  narrow  for  most  of  its 
length,  and  the  visible  portion  of  the  presphenoid  terminates  almost 
in  a  point.  The  pterygoid  fossa  is  wide  for  its  entire  length,  and  the 
palatal  arch  has  a  blunt  median  azygos  process. 


Interparietals. 

O.  Kennedy!.  O.  montanus. 

The  mandible  has  a  broad,  flat  condyle,  and  a  rounded  angle  pro- 
jecting outward  nearly  on  a  line  with  outer  edge  of  condyle;  the  hori- 
zontal portion  slender,  with  only  a  slight  curve  to  the  inferior  out- 
line.     Coronoid  process  long,   narrow,   curving  gradually  backward. 

The  horns  commence  to  curve  outward  from  the  base,  turning 
backwards  at  the  tips,  rather  strongly  ribbed  for  half  their  length  and 
smooth  for  the  remaining  portion. 

Measurements.  Skull:  Occipito-nasal  length,  273  mm. ;  anterior 
edge  of  foramen  magnum  to  anterior  end  of  premaxillaries,  243;  inter- 
orbital  width,  75;  length  of  frontal,  82;  of  nasals,  99;  greatest  width 
of  nasals,  30;  mastoid  breadth,  79;  zygomatic  width,  102;  width  of 
palate  between  second  molars,  46;  length  of  incisive  foramen,  40; 
height  of  horn  core,  74;  length  of  mandible  from  angle  to  symphasis, 
217;  of  coronoid  process,  44.  Total  length  of  horns  along  curve,  244; 
around  base,  108;  tip  to  tip,  303;  this  last  nearly  twice  that  of  widest 
measurement  on  record. 

The  differences  exhibited  between  the  skull  of  this  specimen  and 
those  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  goat  with  which  it  has  been   compared 


June,  igoo.      New  Species  of  Mountain  Goat — Elliot.  5 

are  as  follows:  The  steeper  descent  and  great  depression  of  the 
frontals  anterior  to  the  horn  cores;  the  flatter  nasals;  comparatively 
narrower  malar  and  its  acute  termination,  the  wider  lacrymal,  the 
straight  anterior  outline  of  the  interparietal,  the  square-shaped  later- 
ally contracted  basisphenoid,  the  pointed  character  of  the  narrow  pre- 
sphenoid  and  the  wide  pterygoid  fossa  and  palate.  The  mandible 
differs  in  the  more  prominent  projecting  angle  and  the  straighter 
inferior  outline  of  the  horizontal  portion. 

The  horns  in  their  shape  and  set  are  entirely  different  from  the 
eastern  species,  not  turning  backward  until  near  the  tips,  but  curving 
outward  from  the  base.  The  length  is  nearly  equal  the  longest  on 
record  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  animal,  while  the  width  at  tips  is  nearly 
twice  that  ever  given. 


ZOOLOGY.    PL.    I. 


FIELD    C0LUM8UN    MUSEUM. 


ZOOLOGY     PL. 


O.    MONTANUS. 


ZOOLOGY,   PL.    II. 


"lELD   COLUMBIAN    MUSEUM 


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O  UJ 

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ZOOLOGY,    PL.    IV, 


■lELD    COLUMBIAN    MUSEUW 


0.    MONTANUS. 


